www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Or how they part with their cash...

This is a related question. I am in the USA now and haven't been to CR in 2 years.

Is the dollar directly tied to the Colone? Is there inflation in CR when you look at prices in USA dollars?

Costa Rica is now a double whammy for gringos. The colon is allowed to float against the dollar freely (albeit with a floor & ceiling) which has resulted in a loss of about 5% for the dollar since late November. Inflation is running about 11% annually in Costa Rica. So the dollars purchasing power is steadily declining

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
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Alex Levine

I recall two dollar devaluations of 4% late last year. Wouldn't that make the dollar down 8%?

Just curious.

Luck

Colon basically did not change from when the new system was introduced in October of 2006 until November 2007 when the ceiling and floor were adjusted by 4%. Since that time the dollar has fallen by approximately another 1%.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

So for those of you living down there, retired on fixed incomes, are you being hurt by inflation?

That may be so but when coupled with an inflation rate that hovers around 11% annually and most likely going higher given that oil, wheat, rice, etc. prices are going higher it is a stiff blow to those on a fixed income. Especially when for the past years the 10% devaluation of the colon and the 10% inflation rate basically canceled each other out.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Yeah....I know, I know, bringing up an old thread. But it seems more relevant of a subject now, than it did back in April, and yet, despite all the turmoil in the GLOBAL economy.......nobody here seems to mention it.

I'm curious as to what our thoughts are on it....at present time.

Zebra

i think i'd rather spend my money in CR, then lose it on Wall Street,

i have to get that pu*sy at any cost

IMHO, unless you are directly affected by it from a layoff or stock market perspective, it will have no effect on mongering. This is not a cheap hobby and those that have made the conscious decision to pursue it are already convinced to continue, rain or shine.

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I find the airfares unacceptable. Perhaps CR is not as affected, but I go to Colombia and Brazil and I can tell you airfares there have spiked. I used to get roundtrip to Cali for as little as $380 from Miami. Now Avianca wants over $600, and that's if you're lucky. Brazil is ridiculous. My girl recently flew here from Rio and it set me back $1200 on American, ONE- WAY!! There was a cheaper routing through D.C., but I didn't want her to go through that. I used to fly roundtrip to Brazil for $600 and change.

They cut back on flights, too. There used to be 2 American flights and 1 TAM flight out of Rio, non-stop to Miami. Now there's only one American flight, so even at ridiculous prices, it fills up, just what the airlines want with fuel costs. They can afford to charge whatever they want when demand is high, and when there's only one non-stop, it's high.

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"Don't never trust a woman, till she's dead and deep....One day she'll say she loves you, next day she'll throw you on the street."

"...and if men didn't have this unquenchable desire to have sex with women, then they wouldn't have anything to do with women at all. I certainly wouldn't..."

I talked to 2 regulars(day shift DR) and both stated that the summer was very slow.The DR even sent out emails offering 10%off on sun-wed nights.I know people have different opinions but i believe our economy directly affects CR's especialy tourism.

another ptoblem is fewer flights, as Jazz M mentioned..... I always used to fly through miami to CostaRica and Panama but now with fewer flights AA moved up the time of my Miami to Baltimore, thus I only have 1 1/2 hours to make the connection.. it's just not enough time to clear customs, get my bag and re-check it.... otherwise it's a 8 hour layover for the next flight..

I did see a shocking experience flying back from Panama in July, the miami airport had closed for an hour due to severe thunderstorms, and when it reopened there was a crush of people landing and needing to re-check bags.. My flight was 1 hour 15 minutes late getting in to the gate, but I figured everyone is delayed right..so I went through customs, got my bag, checked it and started looking for a place to eat when I heard the boarding call for my Baltimore flight... so I rushed to the gate and boarded a half empty plane.... normally this flight is full because AA only runs 2 flights a day from Miami to Baltimore... so now the people that missed that flight would need to re-book.. it was like AA made that flight take off on time to screw those people...

And by the way, I use my investment income to pay for my trips, and I cancelled my August trip, and it looks like one less trip for the fall too...

I do too. Even if you can get a good airfare seems like CR hotel prices have gone up a lot lately. No way in hell I'm gonna pay $120-$140 for Best Western Irazu!